Going to Ground

[kunzman]

Anyone have contingencies for, God forbid, having to go to ground?

I figured I'd try to find at least one tree and use my trekking pole for other end.
So far I'm only a one pole backpacker.

Bearpawwd has this lightweight cuben poncho/ground cloth that could be used as a floor and double as my poncho and pack cover. http://www.bearpawwd.com/shelters_fl...o_bathtub.html

I'd still use my BIAS buginator and suspend one end of it from the poll or tree and just drape it over me and cinch the bottom under my bag.

Only issue is I'd need to be using a hammock pad that could also be used one the ground. Problem is I wouldn't want to carry a pad and an underquilt.

What are some other strategies for this contingency?

[MissileMan]

In a pinch, you could use a space blanket or a piece of cheap (light) drop cloth plastic from you local paint department. Hammock on top of the groundcloth. Use trekking poles staked at an angle to hold a ridge line to pitch your tarp like a tent. Then all you have to worry about is bottom insulation if it is cold. I carry 3 feet of reflectix in the sit pad pocket of my Mariposa pack. The pad and reflectix would be almost enough.... Maybe my pack under my feet would make it long enough.

[SilvrSurfr]

Many folks share your fear of "What If I Have To Go To Ground?" You could spend hours reading threads on this topic. Personally, I have no fear of having to go to ground. If I were going somewhere without trees, I'd bring a tent.

There's the old saying, "We pack to our fears." Some carry firearms for protection, or personal alarm systems in case a critter approaches their camp. Fears like this almost always have a weight penalty (like carrying an UQ AND a pad, or a hammock AND a tent). If that's how you want to pack, go for it.

[Shug]

I have not ever had to go to ground since I started hammocking in 2007.
If I had too....I could rough a night cowboy style.
Shug

[trouthunter]

Hey man, are you concerned about comfort, warmth, or both?

[hutzelbein]

Car camping: I take my hammock set-up and a tent. In NZ public campgrounds are similar to German campgrounds = very few trees, if any. I often had to use the tent. In the US all campgrounds I stayed at had plenty of trees. The tent stayed in my boot.

Bicycle camping: Same as car camping. I have only biked in NZ and Germany.

Hiking: Before I go on a hike, I do some research and see if there are trees for hanging. If there aren't, I take a tent and leave the hammock at home.

[BuckeyePaddler]

I've thought about this, and I'd use my sheet of 4' Tyvex for a ground sheet and clothes, sit pad, etc. for under insulation.

[tundracamper]

I agree with the above. You can't plan for everything. I once stayed in a very nice hotel that started flooding at midnight. We ended up going to one of the few hotels with a room. It was not very nice. I didn't make reservations there before staying in the nice hotel. We just made due.

If something happens where I can't use the hammock, I'll just rig what I have to sleep on the ground - probably close to a fire. If things get that bad, just start hiking to the car - or the next non-flooded hotel

[Dochartaigh]

If I ever had to go to ground I would simply inconvenience my hiking partners by squeezing into their tent

...I have thought about it though, and it's simply not going to happen since I would have to bring a bathtub ground cloth + an inflatable sleeping pad with me and that isn't going to happen I might as well bring a UL tent + feather bed blow-up full size mattress to sleep on

[22hornet]

This will be my dilemma also, I embark on a cross country bicycle trip from florida west to Arizona, as much as I want to hang I know somewhere maybe west Texas and beyond will have limited hang options, so I will bring both tent and hammock. Jim